Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Political Zingers

On December 8 Larry Raymond spoke with the Public History class about his game, Political Zingers. Political Zingers fits into the theme of game design, because, according to the game's web page, "With Zingers!, talking politics with your friends is fun and you won’t ruin the evening. You put words into the mouths of politicians and pundits, telling the truth as you see it through a cartoon vocabulary. You can speak your mind, get a laugh and not offend anyone." The games ability to get people (translation students) to discuss potentially difficult topics has real educational applications. Students in the class have a variety of political opinions and levels of engagement, but they all enjoyed the game. The game moved quickly, provoking both discussion and laughs. Larry also discussed how the game related to his long and varied career including his fascinating work with metaphor mapping in the corporate world and the United Nations.